Hour and a half away? Not sure I'd want that long of a car ride while in labor, helps to be able to walk around, change position. Not to mention trips to the bathroom. Yet I also know my midwife had several families which traveled an hour plus to her birthing center because there was no hospital near their home in case of complications.
First birth usually has a longer labor. I remember waking up in the middle of the night, thought I'd messed up my back (back labor), realizing I was in labor we took our other 2 kids to our neighbors and my husband drove (quickly) the 15 minutes to the hospital. When I got there and they got me strapped up to monitors, etc it was time to push the baby out.
On my first child, if someone had mentioned a home birth, I'd have been quite hesitant. Never had a baby before, how would I know everything was being done right, more trust in the hospitals than midwifes back then. Having done both, I give the midwives more trust. They do a better job with care for mother's comfort, well being.
Her iron was slightly on the low side, not bad. I don't remember whether she had low iron or not on the previous one. She hemorrhaged some with all 3 previous births, first was at hospital. I'll have to ask her.
Thanks everyone.
It is important that the birth mother is comfortable in her surroundings. Yesterday the midwifes came in, checked vital signs, estimated it would be an hour or possibly five, so they left, hung out at a truck stop 5-10 minutes away with instructions when to call them back. They had found if they hang around some mothers get nervous, they feel baby need to hurry and come now, not to waste their time. Watched pot doesn't boil type of thing.
Other thing we did was major remodeling of her bedroom this fall. Several things she wanted to change in her house, I suggested starting with their bedroom so she'd have a room she loved to have the baby in. She and her husband scraped off the popcorn ceiling, tore out the old carpet. I painted walls, ceiling, closet, trim. Helped to put in wood laminate flooring. New bedroom door, also white, amazing how much sound a solid door blocks out vs the cheap hollow bedroom doors. We protected the new floor for the birth of the baby. Taped down plastic (painter's) sheets, covered with an old canvas cloth so it wasn't slippery, plastic cover on bed before sheets, etc.
